2402: The Cancer Sympathy Machine part 2

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Javier Leiva

True Crime, Society & Culture, Technology

4.7 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 25 November 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Why would anyone fake cancer? Money? Sure. Attention? Definitely. But as I learned in this episode… the motives are a lot darker, messier, and more human than you might expect. In Part 2 of The Cancer Sympathy Machine, we go beyond the headline-grabbing scams and into the emotional machinery behind these lies. With the help of cancer-survivor-turned-researcher Bill Petrich, we break down the categories of cancer fakers — from those seeking sympathy to those hiding crimes, escaping abuse, or covering up addictions. We revisit the infamous cases you’ve heard about: Belle Gibson, Scamanda, and Jennifer Cataldo. To learn more about Bill Petrich’s work documenting these cases, check out his TikTok: @faking.cancer.expert: https://www.tiktok.com/@faking.cancer.expert Listen to eLIESabeth podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2nlxXhewsTRAyJhvyvaQbb?si=5de4d34489f549e9 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	True Story Media.
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0:59.4	Jack Barski is a former Soviet Union spy, but there was a problem.
1:01.0	He wanted out.
1:04.2	So how do you resign from the KGB, right?
1:05.8	What do you tell him?
1:08.1	I'm not coming or you just disappear?
1:13.7	No, I just came up with the second most brilliant lie in my entire life. The first one was that I was born in the United States. The second one was that I had
1:19.6	contracted HIV AIDS. I interviewed Jack Barski for an episode from season nine, a pretend called
1:26.7	the KGB agent.
1:28.3	And as I was working on this episode, I kept remembering this part of our conversation.
1:33.3	Jack Barski infiltrated the United States to spy on us.
1:38.3	Eventually, Moscow ordered him to return to the Soviet Union, but he didn't want to leave.
1:43.3	So he faked having HIV.
	...

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